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Hotel Indigo / IHG Hotels / Checked Baggage Fees / Hotel Deals / → All Tags

If You Have to Check a Bag, Then You Might Want to Stay at a Hotel Indigo

We really, really like the new-ish Hotel Indigo brand from InterContinental Hotels. For starters, free WiFi. Secondly, the rooms are different from property to property and lastly, the brand loves to haiku.

But now there's another reason to book at Hotel Indigo.

As part of IHG's Check It Free promotion, guests who book at IHG Hotels will now get up to $100 back for checked luggage fees. Groovy! Of course, it's not quite that simple.

You must stay two nights at either a Hotel Indigo, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suite or a Candlewood Suite (all 4,500 hotels worldwide are participating), pay with a Visa card and provide proof of a checked bag on a roundtrip flight.

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Checked Baggage Fees / IHG Hotels / Hotel Deals / Hotel News / → All Tags

IHG Will Reimburse Checked Baggage Fees for Guests with Visa Cards

We hate airline baggage fees but we love hotels that offer to reimburse us for this annoyance and InterContinental Hotel Group is the latest hotel to be so kind.

From September 1 to December 30, IHG is giving guests up to $50 toward their first checked bag on any airline when they spend a weekend at any IHG hotel in the U.S. The promotion can be booked now but there are some details to be aware of. Actually, it's a bit of process so here's what you need to know:

· You must spend two consecutive weekend nights (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) and it has to be at an IHG Hotel in the U.S. Familiarize yourself with IHG brands here.
· You have to pay for your stay with a Visa card.
· After your stay you must fill out a rebate form. The form must include a copy of your hotel folio and a copy of your receipt for checked airline baggage fees and travel dates. Then after filling out a rebate form, you can get a pre-paid Visa card up to $50.
· It's only for U.S. residents.

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French Riviera Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Deals / Hotel Services / Checked Baggage Fees / → All Tags

La Villa Mauresque Will Send You a Blankie Before Your Trip

Where: 1792 route de la Corniche Boulouris , Saint Raphaël , France, 83700

While checked baggage fees are now the norm, airlines are trying to charge you for even more extras on the plane such as bringing along a carry-on bag (egregious, Spirit Air!) and using the pillows and blankets. With airlines getting ballsier with these extra fees, it's comforting to know that hotels are doing what they can to pamper guests upon arrival.

Like at the La Villa Mauresque in the Frnech Riviera which promises guests a "sumptuous cashmere and wool blanket" when they stay for a minimum of three nights. Even better, they will ship the blanket to you before you depart for your hotel stay so you don't have to worry about paying that pesky blanket fee on-board.

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OpenThread / Checked Baggage Fees / Luggage / → All Tags

Are You More Inclined to Stay at a Hotel That Pays Your Checked Baggage Fees?

Virgin America joined the ranks of airlines that are increasing checked baggage fees last week, thereby pissing off already cash-strapped travelers. But you may receive financial aid at hotels, since some of them are picking up the baggage tab.

Washington, D.C., hotels The Dupont and The Normandy will credit your account for the baggage costs, with a $50 max, if you stay two or more nights through June 30. Kimpton's We've Got Your Bag promotion gives you a room credit for one bag, up to $25, and the offer is ongoing at the company's hotels.

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Loews Hotels / Checked Baggage Fees / Hotel News / → All Tags

Loews Extends "Baggage Buyback" Promotion For Guests

Where: United States

We're tired of paying all sorts of fees for checking our bags and Loews Hotels feels our pain. They'll continue to reimburse guests for their $15 checked baggage for up to two bags for a maximum of $30 per occupied room per stay.

Just present any airline bag fee receipt at the front desk to receive the rebate, which will be issued in the form of a credit to their bill at check-out.

Loews has extended this promotion - which they began when American Airlines started this nonsense and began charging passengers for checked baggage this spring - until November 30. That means you can still go on your out-of-town post-Thanksgiving shopping spree (the Loews Regency Hotel New York comes to mind as an option! ) and not fret about your baggage.

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Luggage / Kor Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / Checked Baggage Fees / → All Tags

Three Hip LA Hotels Are Picking Up Your Checked Baggage Fees

Poolside at the Chamberlain.

Good news for weary travelers sick of the airline drama that continues to plague our nation. Three boutique hotels in Los Angeles are picking up the tab for your checked bags.

The Chamberlain Hotel in West Hollywood and The Avalon Hotel and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills have launched a Money Bags promotion:

Catering to travelers unwilling to compromise their jet-set lifestyle, these trend-setting hotels will lighten guests' stress-load by reimbursing one-hundred percent of the charges incurred by airlines for extra baggage fees, up to seventy-five dollars in hotel credit, per reservation.

Sounds good to us! The offer is good through December 28, 2008. Use promotion code "money" when making phone reservations or use code "Money Bags" when booking online. And one final note: Airline-issued proof of fee payment required at check-in; receipt date must correspond with reservation dates.

Room rates at these hotel start at around $229 a night.

Amelia Island Hotels / Luggage / Checked Baggage Fees / → All Tags

Hotels On Amelia Island Offering Guests Room Credit for Checked Baggage Fees

As we are all slowly adjusting to the horrendous nature of checked baggage fees on major airlines, hotels on Amelia Island are trying to ease the pain a bit.

In an effort to get more visitors to Florida in what is typically called the off season, Amelia Island has created a "Pack Your Bags for Amelia Island" program that includes a room credit up to $80 for checked baggage fees.

The "Pack Your Bags" program is being offered at several of the island's hotels, resorts and bed-and-breakfast inns, and is available through September 30, 2008 on stays of three or more nights at the participating hotels.

At check-in, guests must show the original receipt from the airline, proving the amount they paid in checked baggage fees.

Go here for the full list of participating hotels.

Kimpton Hotels / Hotel News / Luggage / Hotel Services / Checked Baggage Fees / → All Tags

Kimpton Already Offering Guests Cash Back for Checked Baggage Fees

Looks like the Loews Hotel group was beat to the punch with the checked baggage fees promotion which they announced yesterday.

The consistent do-gooder of the hotel world, Kimpton Hotels started offering guests cash back for their checked baggage fees on May 22 in a new service called the "We Got Your Bag" program.

Beginning May 22 through Sept. 9, guests need simply to show proof of an additional airline baggage charge upon check in at any one of Kimpton's 43 hotels in the U.S. and Canada, and a room credit will be issued in that amount, up to $25, offsetting the pass-along cost to air travelers.  Some restrictions apply.

Interestingly, the hotel group made the announcement on April 23, a full month before American Airlines decided to stick passengers with a $15 for the first checked bag ($25 for the second.) This is because they were trying to relieve customers who had to check a second bag and were dinged with the fees. Now it applies to all of us who check a bag.

Know of another hotel offering cash back for checked airline baggage? Let us know.

Loews Hotels / Hotel News / Luggage / Hotel Services / Checked Baggage Fees / → All Tags

Good News: Loews Hotels To Reimburse Guests for Checked Baggage Fees

Where the airlines have failed travelers--American Airlines is now charging $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second--hotels have come to the rescue. At least the Loews Hotels brand has.

Arriving guests need only present any airline bag fee receipt at the front desk to receive the rebate, which will be issued in the form of a credit to their bill at check-out.

The Baggage Buy Back rebate is available at Loews' 18 properties in the U.S. and Canada, beginning June 15 through Labor Day, September 1, 2008.

Loews Hotels will offer credit for up to two bags for a maximum of $30 per occupied room per stay.

This is not the only time hotels have picked up after the airlines. Some hotels like Omni Hotels, were quick to offer guests toiletries back in 2006 when liquids were suddenly restricted on airlines.

Now let's hope more and more hotels follow Loews footsteps.